Animated figure toy



1965 KEIKICHI lWAYA ETAL 3,154,924

ANIMATED FIGURE TOY 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug.

1965 KEIKICHI IWAYA ETAL 3,164,924

ANIMATED FIGURE TOY 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 25, 1961 FIG. 2

United States Patent 3,164,924 ANIMATED FIGURE TOY Keikiehi Iwaya and Shigeaki Kurarnoehi, both of Tokyo, Japan, assignors to Louis Marx 6; Company, 1nd, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 23, 1961, der. No. 133,502 11 Claims. (Cl. 46-232) This invention relates to toys, and more particularly to figure toys with action.

The primary object of the present invention is to generally improve such toys. A more particular object is to provide a figure toy which has a variety of actions which may be used individually or in combination, and which are amusing to watch.

In the specific example here illustrated the toy simulates a seated dog, and by manipulation of control buttons one may cuase the ears to flap up and down, or the tail to wag back and forth, or a raised paw to wave, or one eye or the other or both to open and close, or the head to turn to one side or the other, or the dog to bark with accompanying movement of the month. By pressing several buttons at once, different combinations of these actions may be produced.

In accordance with features and objects of the invention, it concerns an action toy which has a special feature of activating the eyes, ears, mouth, arms, tail, etc. of a doll or animal toy, in combination, through cams, by operating the control levers of the toy, and it has also a special feature of having the cams made effective by the control levers. The cams are set to a combined motion with cam follower levers, and because the latter can be made effective or ineffective they may be considered also as clutch levers. The clutching action of said cam levers is controlled by the control levers, which activate the mechanism of the toy. I

To accomplish the foregoing objects and other more specific objects which will hereinafter appear, the invention resides in the toy elements and their relation one to another as are hereinafter more particularly described in the. specification, The specification is accompanied by drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the mechanism of the toy with the outer shell or body removed to show the mechanism;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the mechanism in the base of the toy;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view and is an elevation showing the linkage for turning the head of the toy to one side 1 moved to better show the internal mechanism.

The construction of the present invention is as follows. The midway points of the operating or control levers 3, several of which are installed in parallel, are respectively mounted on an axle 2 which is affixed on the base plate 1 of a doll or an animal toy, and on the outer end of each of said operating levers 3 a press button 4 is attached. Each of the other or inner ends of the operating levers 3 is projected and offset as shown at 5 (FIG. 2). Each of said projected ends 5 is fixedly secured on one end of a corresponding one of the operating levers 3. At its other end each of said projected ends 5 is set on the end of one of several channel-shaped cam follower levers 7 (FIG. 2), the intermediate points of which are mounted on an axle 102 affixed to the mechanism frame of the toy. Each of the other ends of said cam levers 7 is respectively connected with the lower end of generally upright links 8 which activate the working parts of the toy.

Underneath. the outer ends of said operating levers 3 Patented Jan. 12, 1965 'ice an electric terminal 9 is installed so as to be contacted by each of said operating levers 3 when depressed. Said terminal 9 is insulated from base 1 by insulation 103, and is connected by conductor 104 (FIG. 2) to one of the poles of a battery (11), which is in the battery case 10 installed on said base plate 1. The other pole of the battery 11 is connected by conductor to an electric motor 12 which is grounded at13. The connection 13 from said motor 12 leads to each of said operating levers 3 through the base plate 1 and shaft 2, and the motor circuit is closed when one or more of the operating levers like lever 3 is depressed.

A gear 17 is geared to a pinion 15 mounted on the axle 14 of said motor 12, through reduction gearing generally designated'lo. The compound gear 196 is loose on the axle 18, whereas said gear 17 is fast on axle 18. The axle 18 carries a set of cams 19 (and 116 and 19'), which will touch respectively with the lower surfaces of the rear ends of the cam-levers like lever 7.

Referring to FIG. 1, a control lever 3 is normallyin the raised position shown, with the end 5 bearing down on the forward end of its cam lever 7 as shown, so that the rear or cam follower portion of the cam lever 7 is normally raised above the sweep of its cam. Thus the cam lever is normally stationary and inoperative. However when control lever 3 is depressed the offset end 5 rises, permitting the forward end of its cam lever 7 to rise, so that the rear end is lowered onto its respective cam. The cam lever then oscillates about its pivot 102 under drive of its motor driven cam.

The operation of each of the upright links 8 (that is, 8a, 8b, dc, etc.), which links are in pivotal connection with each of the rear ends of said cam levers, is as follows.

Operation of Paw To the upper end of a link 3a an arm 20 is connected, and this arm 20 is affixed on an axle 22 by which a paw '21 is carried on the mechanism frame 6, and said arm 20 is moved up and down by said link 8a by the oscillation of its cam lever 7 due to the rotating motion of cam H beneath said cam lever 7 so as to put the paw 21 in motion. Thus the button 4 in FIG. 2 causes the paw to wave.

Operation of Eyes The upper end of a connecting link 8b is connected to a lever 24 which is pivoted at its midway point on an axle pin with free rotation on the face support 23. The forward end of the lever 24 has a.pin 107 received in a lengthy groove 26 of a support arm 25, the rear end of which is pivoted at 103, and the forward end of which is fixedly attached to one of the eyes 27 so that the eye 27 will be set in motion up and down by the action of link 8b.. Each eye has its own button and linkage, the buttons shown at 10% and in FIG. 2 operating the eyes at different sides. They are marked respectively right eye and left eye in terms of the dog itself, which faces toward the operator.

Operation of Ears A hook 28 on the upper end of a connecting link 80 is hooked to a band 36) (FIG. 5) both ends of which are tied to the ears 2), which are aflixed respectively with free rotation on both sides of the face mechanism frame 23 by pins 112,'and the cars 29 are moved by the up and down motion of said connecting link 30. In FIG. 5 the band 30 is aV shaped wire, the lower end of which receives the link 8c, and the outer ends of which are hooked to the inner ends of the ears 29. In FIG. 5 the cloth ears are shown in dotted lines. The solid line parts are metal, and only the metal is shown in FIG. 1. The loose cloth flaps up and down further than the metal. In FIG. 5 the part 114 is a cross bar to stiffen the V shape of band 30. However, a flexible or elastic band also may be used. In FIG. 2 it is button 111 that works the cars. It releases cam lever 115 to bear on cam 116.

Operation Tail A connecting rod or link 8d (FIG. 1) is mounted on the base plate 1 at its midway point 117, and on its end 31 the tail is firmly affixed, and the tail is moved by the motion of the connecting link 8d. Spring 39 is a return spring. Referring to FIG. 2, button 11% operates the tail. It releases cam lever 119 to bear on earn 116.

Operation of Bark and Jaw Another activating link Se is connected to one end of a lever 32, which is mounted on the mechanism frame 6 by a pin 120 at its midway point, and the forward end of the lever 32 is connected by means of a connecting rod 48 to the inner end of a jaw 33 which is mounted freely rotatable at 121 on the face mechanism frame 23 so as to have the lower jaw 33 open and close with the motion of the connecting rod 3e.

To the rear end of the operating lever 122 (FIG. 2), which activates the cam lever 123 and said connecting rod Se, is fixed a tiltable lever 35 which carries a bellowslike barking device 34, and which is pivotally mounted at 102 on the mechanism frame 6. To the rcciprocable face 36 of said bellows-shaped barking device 34 is touched one end of a lever 37, the midway point of which is affixed on the mechanism frame by an axle pin 124, and the other end of the lever 37 is touched by a crank arm 38 mounted on or formed at the end of the axle 18. By the rotation of the crank 38 the lever 37 having its center of gravity in the rear portion is set to motion on touching said crank arm 38 and as button 125 (FIG. 2) is depressed, the movable face 36 of the bellows-shaped sounding or barking device 34 is pressed and released, and by the repetition of this movement the barking device 34 produces barking sounds in time with the motion of the lower jaw 33.

When the bark button 125 is not depressed the bellows 34 is tilted away from lever plate 37, and the bellows is not operated.

Turning of Head The base 40 (FIGS. 1, 3 and of the face mechanism frame 23 is mounted freely rotatably around the upper portion 130 of the mechanism frame 6. A rod 42 passes through a large slot in stationary part 130 and is inserted into a hole drilled through the movable circular base 40 of the face mechanism frame 23. The lower end of this rod 42 is firmly affixed as by welding on one end of a bell crank 43 which is pivotally mounted at 131 on the mechanism frame 6. Rod 42 becomes a part of the angle lever. To the other end of the bell crank 43 a connecting rod 44 is connected, and the lower end of the connecting rod 44 is connected to the rear end of an operating lever 45, which is mounted on the axle 2 at its midway point.

An auxiliary lever 46 is mounted next to lever 45. A freely rotating rocker 47 is pivotally mounted on the base plate 1 by a pivot 132. Rocker 47 underlies and bears against the bottom surfaces of levers 45 and 46. By pressing the button of the operating lever 45 down, the connecting rod 44 and angle lever 43 are moved upward and the angle lever rod 42 is swung rearward. The face mechanism frame 23 then is rotated toward one side by the motion of the rod 42, which is loosely fitted in the drilled hole 41.

As the rocker 47 is tilted by the downward motion of the operating lever 45 the auxiliary lever 46 is pushed up. When the auxiliary lever 46 is pressed down the operating lever 45 is raised by the rocker 47, and the connecting rod 44 is pulled downward. The face mechanism frame 23 then is rotated toward the opposite side through the action of the angle lever 43. When both i the operating lever 45 and the auxiliary lever 46 are set in like horizontal positions, that is, side by side, the face mechanism frame 23 returns to its front position, that is, facing forward.

Operation The operation ofthe mechanism is as follows. When the operating lever 3 is operated by pressing the press button 4, the offset 5 on the other end of the operating lever 3 is released from one end of the cam lever 7, and as the center of gravity of the cam lever 7 is in its rear portion, the cam lever 7 is tilted downward at the rear, and the lower surface of the cam lever touches the cam 19 mounted on the shaft 18. When the operating lever 3 is depressed it touches the electric terminal S, and an electric circuit through the battery 11 to the electric motor 12 is closed and the motor 12 is set in motion. Its shaft 34 and pinion 15 drive gear train 16 and gear 17 on shaft 18 which turns the cam 19. When the cam lever 7 is released it rests on the cam 19, and is repeatedly oscillated by the cam 19. This causes the limb or paw 21 to wave up and down.

In similar fashion the eyes, the ears, the mouth and bark, or the tail of the figure toy are activated. Thus, the mechanism of the toy is activated by the operation of any operating lever. When several operating levers are operated together any number of the mechanisms can be set in motion.

With the rotation of the cams the cam levers which are set to be in contact with the cams, are driven and thereby the mechanism of the doll or the animal toy is set to action. One cam lever moves the lip or jaw of the toy, and at the same time a sounding device is set to action, and thereby the sound is synchronized with the action of the mouth, attracting more interest in the action of the toy.

Referring to FIG. 4, the cars 29 oscillate between a down position shown in solid lines and an up position 29 shown in broken lines. The cars are made of flexible fabric, and the metal support is much shorter than the ear, so that the ends flap up and down loosely and realistically, with a comical effect. The paw motion is indicated by the change from the solid line position 21 to the broken line position 21. The eye members 27 are preferably large and located in large eye openings, so that the eye movement is conspicuous and comical.

Miscellaneous Referring to FIG. 2 the three short conductive strips 9 are connected to one another and to the conductor 104. They are insulated from the base. It will be understood that a single long metal strip may be employed instead of the three short strips shown, that is, they may be joined by the metal itself.

Referring to FIG. 1, the tail movement here illustrated is an up and down movement, but by a slight change in the pivoting of the tail and the linkage connected thereto, it may be given a side-to-side wagging motion.

The operating levers other than levers 45 and 46 which turn the head) are normally raised. This is accomplished by the balancing or Weighting of the parts, and where necessary, return springs are used. The cam levers thus are normally raised at the rear end. By pressing a control lever the cam lever is lowered at its rear end, and this motion may be conveyed through the linkage to the moving parts, such as a limb or facial feature. The toy is therefore an operative toy (though in cruder and less desirable form) even without the motor and cam shaft. In this simpler form the button 4 may be moved up and down repeatedly to move the paw up and down, the button 109 to open and close the right'eye, the button 111 to raise and lower the ears, and so on for the tail and left eye and jaw.

In some cases a spring may be used to help balance the load and the action. This applies to springs 39 and 39.

In FIG. 2 it will be noted that there are only three cams 19, 116, and 19' on cam shaft 18. However the cams are wide and each cooperates with both of two adjacent cam levers. If desired six separate cams may be used for the six cam levers but it so happens that the same cam shape is suitable to move the paw or an eye or the jaw. In the present case the cams 19 and 19 are circular eccentrics, and they are displaced. a half revolution apart as shown in FIG. 1'. Similarly one cam shape is suitable to move the ears and the tail, and in the present case cam 116 is double lobed or elliptical as shown in FIG. 1.

It is believed that the construction and operation of our improved animated figure toy, as well as the advantages thereof, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. It will also be apparent that while we have shown and described our invention in a preferred form, changes may be madefrom the structure shown without departing from the scope of the invention, as sought to be defined in the following claims.

We claim: V

1. An animated figure toy having a movable limb, and a movable facial feature, a motor driving a cam shaft having a plurality of cams, cam levers cooperating with said cams and operatively connected with said limb and facial feature for moving said limb and facial feature respectively, and a plurality of control members for selectively activating said cam levers into cooperation with said cams to cause said motor to selectively operate either one or both of said limb or facial feature.

2. An animated figure toy having a movable limb, a movable tail, and a movable facial feature, a motor driving a cam shaft having a plurality of cams, cam levers cooperating with said cams and operatively connected with said limb, tail, and facial feature for moving said limb, tail and facial feature respectively, and a plurality of control members for selectively activating said cam levers into cooperation With said cams to cause said motor to selectively operate any one or more of said limb, tail or facial feature. 7

3. An animated figure toy having a movable limb, a movable tail, and a plurality of movable facial features, a battery operated motor driving a cam shaft having a plurality of cams, cam levers cooperating with said cams and operatively connected with said limb, tail, and facial features for moving said limb, tail, and individual facial features respectively, and a plurality of control members for selectively activating said cam levers into cooperation with said cams to cause said motor to selectively operate any one or more of said limb, tail or facial features.

4. An animated figure toy having a movable limb, a movable tail, and a movable facial feature, a motor driving a cam shaft having a plurality of cams, cam levers disposed collaterally of each other and above said cams and adapted to be lowered into engagement with said cams and operatively connected with said limb, tail, and facial feature for moving said limb, tail and facial fea mm respectively, and a plurality of control members, one for each cam lever, for lowering the same and thereby selectively activating said cam levers into cooperation with said cams to cause said motor to selectively operate any one or more of said limb, tail or facial feature.

5. An animated figure toy having a movable limb, a movable tail, and a movable facial feature, a battery operated motor driving a cam shaft having a plurality of cams, cam levers disposed collaterally of each other and above said cams and adapted to be lowered into engagement with said cams and operatively connected with said limb, tail, and facial feature for moving said limb, tail and facial feature respectively, and a plurality of control members, one for each cam lever, for lowering the same and thereby selectively activating said cam levers into cooperation with said cams to cause said motor to selectively operate any one or more of said limb, tail or facial feature, and means whereby the use of any one of the control members serves also to connect the battery to the motor to energize the same.

6. An animated figure toy simulating an animal in seated posture on a base, said toy having a movable paw, a movable tail, movable ears, movable eyes, a movable lower jaw, and a sound producing device, a row of push buttons and control levers on said base, a motor, a relatively long cam shaft driven by said motor and carrying a plurality of cams, a plurality of cam levers disposed for movement into or out of cooperation with said cams and controlled by said control levers, means whereby depression of any control lever permits movement of a cam lever into engagement with its cam, whereby any one or more of said movable parts may be set into rapid repeated motion.

7. An animated figure toy simulating an animal in seated posture on a base, said toy having a movable paw, a movable tail, movable ears, movable eyes, a movable lower jaw, a sound producing device, and the head being turnably mounted on the body, a row of push buttons and control levers on said base, a motor, a relatively long cam shaft driven by said motor and carrying a plurality of earns, a plurality of cam levers disposed for movement into or out of cooperation with Said cams and controlled by said control levers, means whereby depression of any control lever permits movement of a cam lever into engagement with its cam, whereby any one or more of said movable parts may be set into rapid repeated motion, two additional push buttons and control levers, a rocker connecting the same for opposite movement thereof, and means whereby said additional control levers turn the head to one side or the other. I

8. An animated figure toy simulating an animal in seated posture on a base, said toy having a movable paw, a movable tail, movable ears, movable eyes, a movable lower jaw, and a sound producing device, a row of push buttons and control levers on said base, an electrically operated motor, a relatively long cam shaft driven by said motor and carrying a plurality of cams, a plurality of cam levers disposed for movement into or out of cooperation with said cams and controlled by said control levers, means whereby depressionof any control lever permits movement of a cam lever into engagement with its cam and at the same time closes an electrical circuit to energize said motor, whereby any one or more of said movable parts may be set into rapid repeated motion.

9. An animated figure toy simulating an animal in seated posture on a base, said toy having a movable paw, a movable tail, movable ears, movable eyes, a movable lower jaw, a sound producing device, and the head being turnably mounted on the body, a row of push buttons and control levers on said base, an electrically operated motor, a relatively long cam shaft driven by said motor and carrying a plurality of cams, a plurality of cam levers disposed for movement into or out of cooperation with said cams and controlled by said control levers,

means whereby depression of any control lever permits movement of a cam lever into engagement with its cam and at the same time closes an electrical circuit to energize said motor, whereby any one or more of said movable parts may be set into rapid repeated motion, two additional push buttons and control levers, a rocker connecting the same for opposite movement thereof, and means whereby said additional control levers turn the headto one side or the other.

10. An animated figure toy simulating an animal having a head and body on a base, said toy having a movable limb, a movable tail, and a movable facial feature, a motor which may be made effective to operate said movable parts continuously, a row of optionally usable control levers with manually depressible push buttons on said base, means whereby depression of any push button causes the motor to be effective to cause continuous movement of one of said movable parts, whereby any one or more of said movable parts may be selectively continuously operated by depression of the corresponding button or buttons, the head of said animal being turnably mounted on the body, two additional push buttons and control levers, a rocker connecting the same for opposite movement thereof, and means whereby said additional control levers turn the head to one side or the other.

11. An animated figure toy simulating an animal having a head and body on a base, said toy having a movable paw, a movable tail, movable ears, movable eyes, a movable jaw, and a movable sound-producing device, a motor which may be made effective to operate said movable parts continuously, a row of optionally usable control levers with manually depressible push buttons on the base, means whereby depression of any push button causes the motor to be effective to cause continuous movement of one of said movable parts, whereby any of said movable parts may be selectively continuously operated by depression of the corresponding button or buttons, the head being turnably mounted on the body, two additional push buttons and control levers, a rocker connecting the same for opposite movement thereof, and means whereby said additional control levers turn the head to one side or the other.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,410,408 3/22 Mack 46135 XR 1,608,609 11/26 Metzger 46-167 1,820,367 8/31 Rogers 46-126 1,925,006 8/33 Ross 46-118 2,63 3,669 4/53 Churus 46247 2,641,866 6/53 Schiller 48118 2,856,729 10/58 Clintsman 46-167 2,862,332 12/58 Johnson 46243 2,954,639 10/60 Walss 46135 XR 3,024,551 3/62 Oppenheim 46126 RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner. 

6. AN ANIMATED FIGURE TOY SIMULATING AN ANIMAL IN SEATED POSTURE ON A BASE, SAID TOY HAVING A MOVABLE PAW, A MOVABLE TAIL, MOVABLE EARS, MOVABLE EYES, A MOVABLE LOWER JAW, AND A SOUND PRODUCING DEVICE, A ROW OR PUSH BUTTONS AND CONTROL LEVERS ON SAID BASE, A MOTOR, A RELATIVELY LONG CAM SHAFT DRIVEN BY SAID MOTOR AND CARRYING A PLURALITY OF CAMS, A PLURALITY OF CAM LEVERS DISPOSED FOR MOVEMENT INTO OR OUT OF COOPERATION WITH SAID CAMS AND CONTROLLED BY SAID CONTROL LEVERS, MEANS WHEREBY DEPRESSION OF ANY CONTROL LEVERS, MOVEMENT OF A CAM LEVER INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH ITS CAM, WHEREBY ANY ONE OR MORE OF SAID MOVABLE PARTS MAY BE SET INTO RAPID REPEATED MOTION. 